I had expected Jaffer to play well, but his batting this test far exceeds expectation, and should be an object lesson to his more luminous colleagues. India declared at 521/6 for a total lead of 391. The Windies in reply are 13/0 at close of play.

Jaffer scored 212 runs studded with some terrific drives and flicks off the pads. Had his placement on the off been better, he would have got a lot more. He showed great concentration and deserves all the accolades. Frankly, I had not expected this fight back and am pleasantly surprised. Rahul scored 62 but his contribution in steadying the ship goes far beyond the weight of his runs.

On a day when the Indians scored 306 runs off only 82.5 overs, I do have a couple of things to quibble about. First, the team continues to bring Dhoni on too late. Sending Kaif to bat before him was mindless. At 350/3 when Rahul was out, I would have sent Dhoni in to up the scoring. Instead the team sent in Yuvraj, which I can understand. But then, when Jaffer was out, they sent in Kaif – that is bull shit!

Both Yuvraj (39 off 84 balls) and Kaif (46 n.o. off 86 balls) struggled to score and bogged the innings down. Dhoni bludgeoned 69 off 52 balls with four 4s and six 6s! Some decisions the team continues to take are beyond stupidity.

Second, I would have declared half an hour earlier with 25 less on the board. We lost valuable time and if the team fails to win a close match tomorrow, we will have only ourselves to blame. There is no way the Windies will score 350 on the fifth day on this pitch against Kumble.

The wicket is slow and there isn’t much turn, but the bounce is a little variable and the occasional ball is keeping low. That’s Kumble territory to me. I hope that a day after Murali’s heroics at Trent Bridge, our own magician puts in a ‘Jumbo’ performance.

A word about the umpiring in this match. After a couple of good years the current set of ‘elite’ umpires are not covering themselves in glory. First, Simon Taufel, of all people, gave Dravid out to a glaring no ball in the first inning. Today, Dhoni was ‘caught’ on the boundary line by Ganga whose feet were virtually on the line. The ‘catch’ was referred to the third umpire who referred it back to the field umpires because replays were inconclusive. As in all such cases, the benefit of doubt goes to the batsman every time.

The umpires (Taufel and Aleem Dar) seemed to indicate that Dhoni was not out. Lara then got upset and started an argument with Dhoni and the umpires wasting several minutes. The argument ended with Dravid declaring the inning.

When a batsman does not walk, despite the fielder claiming a ‘catch’, umpires have to use TV replays if they are not sure themselves, as on this occasion. If the replays cannot decide one way or another, the batsman gets the benefit of doubt. ‘Elite’ umpires are expected to show a bit more authority and swiftness in decision-making.

Anyway, pray that I have good news for you tomorrow. So long, folks.